Local leaders dismayed over extension of COVID border rules

Article content

Local officials and business leaders are calling Ottawa’s decision to extend COVID-19 border rules until Sept. 30 a big disappointment and a setback for the area’s economic recovery.

Their harshest criticism was directed at the possibility the ArriveCAN app could be made a permanent feature at the border.

“It’s horrible that this is the decision being made to continue these measures into September, through the entire summer season,” said Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association chair Brian Yeomans.

“We were really excited it was going to be kind of moving in the right direction. For this to continue to September is really disappointing because it’s our entire summer season,” he said.

Mandatory random testing will remain in place at land crossings, but the government has extended the pause on testing at airports until mid-July to get offsite testing set up.

Travellers must also be double-vaxed to cross into Canada or quarantine for 14 days if not vaccinated. They’ll also have to fill out the ArriveCAN online app within 72 hours of their scheduled crossing.

This is a deterrent we didn’t need right now

Yeomans said he was not expecting the COVID-19 rules at the border to be extended another three months.

“Businesses have pivoted and worked hard to adapt without having access to one of their main customer bases for one and a half years,” Yeomans said. “This is a deterrent we didn’t need right now.”

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who recently joined other border cities’ mayors in urging an easing of border-crossing restrictions and the elimination of the ArriveCAN app, admitted he wasn’t surprised the measures were extended, but expressed dismay about the potential permanence of the app.

“The musings about the ArriveCAN app becoming permanent certainly causes me concern,” Dilkens said. “The app may be easy to use for some, but there are a lot of people who find it difficult or don’t have the smartphone or technology to fill out the forms.

“It’s acting as another barrier that is detrimental for cross-border traffic both ways.”

Dilkens dismissed the reasoning of federal officials that the app speeds up border crossings.

“It certainly hasn’t sped things up at the border in my experience and traffic is only 40 per cent of normal volumes,” he said.

“These measures are just adding layers of bureaucracy that discourages cross-border traffic. The app is a detriment to our local economy.”

Dilkens added the ArriveCAN app is the main reason why Transit Windsor has not returned to service, said Dilkens.”We can’t return the tunnel bus to service until the ArriveCAN app is gone.

“We aren’t going to put drivers in the position of verifying everyone’s app is complete and OK.

“The bus would have to sit there if someone didn’t have things completed. You can’t operate a bus schedule with no certainty in being able to deliver on schedule.”

Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island CEO Gordon Orr said that cross-border traffic is a major economic lifeline to border communities that doesn’t seem to be fully understood by those living away from the international crossing.

“Americans account for 30 to 33 per cent of our tourism industry,” Orr said. “Our local wineries have told us Americans represent 25 per cent of their visitors.

“We’re seeing more Americans coming over, but they’re more the type that have a cottage or are visiting family and friends.”

The spontaneous visitor is not coming … because of the hassle

Orr said what concerns him most about the app and other measures being extended is it gives American tourists a reason not to visit.

“It’s limiting the more spontaneous, day-trip visit,” Orr said. “Some can’t come because they’re not double-vaxed and others can’t be bothered to fill out the ArriveCAN app. Unless they have a real reason for coming over, the spontaneous visitor is not coming in the volumes of the past because of the hassle.”

Wyandotte Town Centre Business Improvement Association chair Larry Horwitz said local business is still transitioning to the recovery phase. He criticized what he feels is an overly cautious approach for slowing the economic recovery.

“I’d say we’re back to 60 to 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels,” Horwitz said. “The border is affecting everyone.

“I’ve come back from travelling to several countries for business and Canada still has controls in place no one else has in the world. Europe and the rest of the world have stopped doing this because it’s negatively affecting businesses, small and large.”

With such a significant percentage of the local economy tied to the flow of goods, services and people across the border, Dilkens said he’ll continue to press the issue with the federal government.

“Our largest tourist attraction, Caesar’s Windsor, employed 2,200 before the pandemic,” Dilkens said. “They’re about half of that now.

“We’ve got to speak up for those people and others.”

dwaddell@postmedia.com